24 Hours Til Doomsday
"24 Hours Til Doomsday" is the fifth episode of ninth season of the ''Murdoch Mysteries'' and the one hundred-nineteenth episode of the series. It first aired on November 9, 2015. Summary The Canadian Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier and National Security agent Terrence Meyers enlist Murdoch's help with an extortion crisis. They have 24 hours to stop the detonation of a rogue weapon that could spark a war between Canada and the United States. “''A crisis has arisen'',” the Prime Minister explains, “''we have less than 24 hours to save Canada'',” and shares a blackmail letter: Project D has been activated. Unless payment of $4 million is made by 6 p.m. tomorrow, New York will burn''.'' Project D was an idea, tabled at a cabinet meeting two years ago by then Defense Minister William Fergus. The D stands for Defense, although Doomsday may be more appropriate. This project called for a policy of guaranteed reciprocal annihilation, a series of enormous cannons along the border with the United States capable of delivering an explosive device up to 400 miles. So if one country starts a war, both are mutually assured destruction. Minister Fergus was re-assigned to oversee construction of a federal shipping yard. Everything was going according to plan, until certain irregularities of a nature that suggested Project D, in fact, was being built. Unfortunately, by the time an investigation was started, most of the pertinent documents had disappeared along with the minister. Meyers followed him to Toronto, but was eluded. The Prime Minister and Canadian spy Terrence Meyers ask Murdoch to find the minister to determine if he is behind the extortion and prevent an act of war. Murdoch has less than 24 hours to find Minister Fergus, uncover the blackmailer and stop him from firing a rocket on New York City. They discover the letter is from a Dr. Janius Kemps, who has no school record on file. Following the trail of supplies lead them to the wilds of Mississauga where Murdoch comes across none other than James Pendrick, a.k.a. Dr. Janius Kemps, who admits to building a rocket. He claims he has no idea what project D is, and soon finds out that his invention plans were all for Project D. With the information Murdoch provides him, Pendrick realizes someone has been stealing his work. Has Pendrick been betrayed yet again - by a woman? Could Allen Clegg be attempting a coup? How is a Necco wafer the answer? Together, Pendrick and Murdoch race to Niagara-on-the-Lake to stop the missile from being fired. Character Revelations * Julia to William: "William Henry Murdoch, if you ever do something like that, ever again, you had better take me with you." * Rebecca James had attended the New York Medical School for Women for a year. * Pendrick suffers from claustrophobia. Continuity * James Pendrick returns with yet another invention and woman at his side. * Rebecca James becomes morgue assistant to Dr. Ogden. * At the end of [[Werewolves|'Werewolves']]','' Murdoch gives Alwyn his own copy of "From the Earth to the Moon", his favorite book when he was a boy. Written on the inside is Murdoch's full name which Julia calls him at the end of this episode. Historical References * Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky (1857 – 1935) was a Russian and Soviet rocket scientist and pioneer of the astronautic theory, of Polish andRussian descent. His most important work, published in 1903, was Exploration of Outer Space by Means of Rocket Devices. He calculated, using the Tsiolkovsky equation that the horizontal speed required for a minimal orbit around the Earth is 8,000 m/s (5 miles per second) and that this could be achieved by means of a multistage rocket fueled by liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. It was proved for the first time that a rocket could perform space flight. * '''Svante August Arrhenius (1859-1927) received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1903, becoming the first Swedish Nobel laureate, and in 1905 became director of the Nobel Institute where he remained until his death. He was a Swedish scientist, originally a physicist and one of the founders of the science of physical chemistry. The Arrhenius equation, Arrhenius definition of an acid, lunar crater Arrhenius, the mountain of Arrheniusfjellet and the Arrhenius Labs at Stockholm University are named after him. Today, Arrhenius is best known for his study published in 1896, on the greenhouse effect. * The 1902 French Silent Film "A Trip To The Moon", based on "From the Earth to the Moon" by Jules Verne is mentioned. (See it on YouTube). * In 1863, Clemence Sophia Harned Lozier, M.D., who practiced medicine in New York specializing in obstetrics and surgery, opened a medical school exclusively for female students, the New York Medical College for Women . In 1867, Dr. Lozier’s institution graduated the first female Canadian physician, Emily Stowe, M.D. 1867 (see Augusta Stowe-Gullen), who had previously been refused admission to every medical school in her native Canada. Trivia * MM Designers Armando Sgrignuolo and Kent McIntyre are nominated for the 2017 Canadian Screen Awards Best Production Design or Art Direction in a Fiction Program or Series: 24 Hours til Doomsday. Errors Cast Main Cast Yannick Bisson as Detective William Murdoch Hélène Joy as Dr. Julia Ogden Thomas Craig as Inspector Thomas Brackenreid Jonny Harris as Constable George Crabtree Recurring Cast Mouna Traoré as Rebecca James Peter Stebbings as James Pendrick Peter Keleghan as Terrence Meyers Matthew Bennett as Allen Clegg Brian Paul as Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier Guest Cast Christina Horne as Svetlana Tsiolkovsky John Cleland as Lester Mogg Jonathan Goldapple as Mystery Man Uncredited Cast Gallery 905 24 Hours Til Doomsday 2.PNG|At the Blackboard|link=Blackboard 905 24 Hours Til Doomsday 3.PNG 905 24 Hours Til Doomsday Blackboard 1.png 905 Tsiolkovsky Book.png 905 24 Hours Til Doomsday 8.png 905 24 Hours Til Doomsday 7.png 905 24 Hours Til Doomsday 4.png Category:Season Nine